A Will to Shatter Stars
by Atlanrom
Summary: In which the Leviathan gets run over by a truck. Eidolon skillset OC. Complete
1. Genesis

Summary: Because sometimes people deserve hope. A veteran broken by a war finds hope and Brockton Bay finds a hero. Based on Worm CYOA and Eidolon powerset. Cross posted on SB/FF.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Part 1: Prologue**

* * *

 _(First Person POV)_  
All things considered, it was a pretty dandy day in the desert. The patrols had come back with no skirmish and I suppose it was good news.

 _Then why weren't the hairs on my back not backing down?_

It felt like a calm before storm.

This war wasn't like the one before. I had spent enough time in Afghanistan to be far from being a greenhorn.

 _Then why were my hands shaking like crazy?_

"Captain?" A private, John, if I remember correctly, must have noticed my paling expressions as he addressed me, concerned.

Instincts came just like they always did. Faithful and without doubt.

"Mobilise." I said with a calm I didn't feel.

"What?" The private asked, not understanding, obviously surprised.

My patience snapped.

"MOBILISE!" I roared feeling _something go horribly wrong._

There was a sound like gushing of cola out of a popped bottle.

Then the world exploded.

…

…

In my last moments, I suppose I should have been thinking about how the damn bastards had gotten their hands-on anti-tank weaponry.

Perhaps, even reminisce over my life and wonder if I had mattered.

But I didn't care to be fair.

I didn't care about the weaponry that the enemy had possessed which they shouldn't have.

I didn't care about my impoverished childhood spent in various foster homes and juvies.

I didn't care about my ex-wife nor the asshole of my friend who she had been cheating with since Afghanistan.

I didn't care.

* * *

 **Part 2: Genesis**

* * *

 _(World System)  
System: Active_

 _Anomaly detected? Confirm_

 _Trasdimensional anomalies? Confirm_

 _Engage Correction? Confirm_

 _Preload Abilities? **Eidolon** Selected_

 _Target? [Captain James V. Maxwell] selected.  
Reincarnation? [Greg Veder/Void Cowboy] selected  
 **Execute Command**_

* * *

When I came to be, it was a bathroom I didn't know as well as a world that I swear didn't know.

The swastika one the bathroom walls were a clue for one.

 _The blaring sirens in distance I ignored._

The short and weak body was another. Looking in a broken mirror, a pimpled face with blonde hair and blue eyes looked back.

 _Was this hell?_

Now don't get me wrong, as a man in my mid thirties with a bad knee I was far from being healthy as a horse but I could swear that the body I was in was worse than my nine-year-old self.

My first stint in reformation had been after I had thrown a brick at a cop car. It had been a bet but I hadn't known about the cop being still inside.

The judge had been fairly understanding the first time but the pricks in that place had not been.

One of them had looked a lot like this body. Gangly, hairy and no muscles.

He had tried to force my pants off after beating the crap out of me with an iron rod.

Funny thing about rapists? They scream when you shove a fork in their eyeballs.

I had been eventually discharged due to the self-defence clause but the other guy had died from infection few days later.

Absent minded, I reached into a back pocket I could feel with some weight.

A wallet, expensive based on leather, but clearly in state of negligence turned up.

I flipped it open and the face of this body looked back in the ID.

The name _Greg Veder,_ was barely familiar but I ignored it.

It was the school that caught my attention.

 _Winslow High School, Brockton Bay_

Brockton Bay? Winslow? I could swear I had read the name.

 _The distant sirens I ignored._

"Where the hell am I?" I whispered to myself.

And beneath the surface of my mind, something came up.

A logic, a programme written in alien language with no purpose and every purpose.

 _What the hell is it?!_

And suddenly thoughts and things I didn't know came into existence in my mind as the great logic underneath my mind made logical leaps.

"Worm." Suddenly things made sense, with the reality being worse than fiction.

I was in worm verse.

The war in Afghanistan had taught me about how mind numbing the interval between skirmish could be and I had tried my hand during one of these. Never managing to finish it to be fair. But I had read enough to make one of things clear.

Moments earlier, I had wondered whether I was in hell?

No,

I was in someplace way worse.

In a place where hope died, with body not my own and even a mind that may be compromised.

"What are you?" I whispered again too shocked to feel much of anything else.

 _The great logic wondered how to answer and a word came forth. A word single but absolute._

" ** _Eidolon?_** " With word came memories of a man who was strong beyond measure. Whose strength was versatility. I could work with these.

According to the wormworks, Eidolon allowed a person to manifest powers basically. So, let's try this.

With a minor effort of merely wishing it, the surface of my mind seemed to bend itself to the great logic that seemed to by power.

 _Thinker_

An information gathering ability was essential and without any further adieu, I turned the Thinker ability on Eidolon itself.

 _The great logic seemed to stand still before it seemed to laugh but answered all the same._

 ** _Eidolon-_** _Semi-sentient. Any power you may chose, but chose you must. Start the strongest but if strength isn't what you seek, versatility must be your choice. Five at most but none as quality of one. Yet Quantity has quality of its own, isn't it?!_

When the trance ended, I was on floor barely holding myself. I had vomited violently over the floor.

Any single power I could wield at any time and none would be able to handle me in that aspect or I could broaden my skill set at cost of decreasing power levels.

I could work with this but what did semi-sentient meant.

 _In lieu of an answer, the great logic shifted and a power came from depth on its own. Mine to make, mine to use and mine to break._

 ** _Blank-_** _Invulnerability to Master/Stranger/Thinker/Trump_

…

And just like that a grin came. A semi-sentient defence mechanism? I could run with this.

Now if only the siren would stop blaring like my ears owed it money. "What the hell is it anyway?"

And my thinker power came.

 _Endbringer_

And just like that any mirth I may have felt vanished. This cannot be.

In panic, I reached for my phone and the date confirmed my worst fears.

It was 12 April 2011.

And I didn't need my Thinker Powers to hear the heavy rainfall.

The Leviathan was attacking a month before it should be.

And so, I did what anyone would do.

I ran.

* * *

As fast as I ran, my mind ran faster with only one question on my mind.

Why would somebody put me in this situation? The leviathan attacking pre-emptively minutes after my reincarnation? I had not survived so long by believing in coincidence.

And without words my Thinker Ability activated.

 _Eliminate Anomalies._

Anomalies?

 _Entities and derivatives_

I stopped cold, both from shock and from lacking any further strength to run.

Entities? Someone wanted me to destroy beings as close to god as someone could realistically get?!

"WHY?!" I screamed to the raining sky. I must have made quite a sight, standing just outside a school shouting to the heavens. Fortunately, /Unfortunately, no one was there to see my state on the abandoned streets of Brockton Bay.

And my Thinker Ability activated.

 _To save the world._

It brought me up short. If that wasn't a good enough reason, I didn't know what it was. If my power were as strong as they suggested. I just might make a difference.

But why me?

 _And **eidolon** seemed to almost smile._

 _Why not you?_

* * *

What an idiot. I couldn't help but scoff at the idea of an all-powerful being actually being stupid enough to choose me.

Captain James Maxwell wasn't an epitome of hope. He wasn't a hero. He had never been.

I was first and foremost a survivor.

Fighting an Endbringer with little if any handle on my power was counterproductive to that goal.

So, I used my Thinker ability to find a way to get out.

 ** _Eidolon_** _seemed to smile mockingly in mind but obliged._

An abandoned car nearby stood out with enough gas to get me out of here. I didn't need directions. The sirens were clear on the exit ways. I wondered if I would actually have enough time.

 _And my abilities answered._

 _A creature seemed to come forth from shadows. Gargantuan, agile and reptilian._

 _Leviathan_

 _At thrice the speed of sound, it covered well over a kilometre a second aiming at a city barely half a thousand miles away._

FUCK!

I wasn't even aware that I had been driving as I swerved at over a hundred kilometre an hour.

How the fuck were they even contemplating fighting that monstrosity?

 _And even though I didn't want it, my abilities answered._

 _On a beach, barely a dozen mile away, a man in spandex like jumpsuit said meaningless words to other equally ridiculous looking people._

 _And a bunch of brats seemed to stand tall despite being afraid._

 _Stand tall, prepared to die._

The vision cut off as I forced my power down and only my car came to stop did I realize that I had taken my feet off the accelerator.

But I didn't care as a memory came.

A memory, not a vision. My memory not of a freaky alien thingy.

 _"Tell me dickhead, if my life meant a bastard like you dying, what would my life be worth?"_

The old man had been not an Army of Chief or some fancy wig like that. Just a soldier and perhaps the closest thing I had to a father.

When I had offered to carry the bomb far away, so that it may explode safely, he had given me a finger and ran off with the bomb, damning the orders of the captain.

Old fucker made barely few kilometres before the dirt bomb exploded.

The radiation had been enough that I couldn't even retrieve his remains.

 _Couldn't even say goodbye._

And so, as I drove straight towards the beach, towards the Endbringer and the death that lay for me there, the old man's gentle smile never wavered from my mind.

Nor did the grin on my face

 _And somewhere in mind, **eidolon** smiled an honest to god smile._

* * *

 ** _Part 3: We came like romans_**

* * *

Taylor Herbert, going tentatively by the name of Skitter could barely hold herself up. The chilling rain didn't help the already grim atmosphere.

Less than half of the cape here would be going home intact. A quarter in coffins.

For once Tattletale was not saying anything.

Death has a funny way of shutting people up.

"Can't get anything?" Grue asked Tattletale. The villainess shrugged.

"Endbringers are out of my powerset directly."

"Anything indirect?" Taylor asked.

"Nothing of use." The answer expected, disheartened her all the same.

 _"IT IS COMING! HUNDRED FEET WAVE!" Dragon screamed from the arm bands that was their communication basis._

Hundred feet? Even as the Triumvirate engaged along with every single long ranger, Taylor could only focus on one simple fact.

Leviathan had never made waves that tall in history. Ever.

 _"It is escalating! Something is wrong! Something has provoked it. It had been holding back so far! All the other Endbringers are holding back as well!_ " Numb, Taylor slowly turned to look at the Tattletale who had jammed her hand at the armband conveying the message to entirety of the force.

The drop-in morale was palpable.

But still it was nothing compared to the hundred feet waves actually appearing. The morale seemed to almost die completely.

And then Legend screamed and at his command gigantic shields of laser and tinkertech seemed to come into existence. Eidolon followed as numerous layers seemed to pile upon the massive shield.

Hundreds of capes worked in tandem, being coordinated by Dragon as the layers piled one.

Finally, it seemed to complete mere moments before the gigantic volume of water stuck. And held.

The relief came and then came joy.

But before any jubilation could take place, a small crack appeared and was promptly sealed but there was no cheer this time either.

In the small gap of time, a figure a mere third as large as the waves stood in front of them all, yet far from being its size was order of magnitudes more dangerous than the Tsunami.

"It has intentionally done that." Horrified, Tattletale transmitted on the radio. "With Legend and Eidolon busy in maintaining in the shield lest the Tsunami destroy Brockton Bay and drown the capes, two third of Triumvirate is essentially out of equation. This level of strategic thinking…."

 _We are doomed._

All hope seemed to evaporate even as Alexandria engaged Leviathan. Vista was oddly by her side, a strategy devised by Dragon. A spatial warper and a dangerous Brute-Thinker combination.

It seemed to be working as Leviathan's every attack missed while Alexandria's every attack connected.

"Change! It has learnt your pattern." Tattletale communicated but it was too late.

Within five second, Leviathan had analysed the entirety of the Alexandria's fighting style and punched with a force that defied explanation.

It connected and Alexandria coughed blood.

Alexandria, the strongest brute, the strongest female fell down on her knees after one hit from the otherworldly entity.

"VISTA! EVACUATE!" It was dragon.

The cape was young, not foolish, as she compressed the space behind her while expanding the one between Leviathan and her.

The leviathan broke the sound barrier overcoming the space faster than she could expand.

That's when it seemed to stop all of a sudden and brace himself.

Just in time for a Ford truck come crashing into the being at speed of light.

…

…

 _"What the Fuck?" Dragon's words summed up the feeling of the entirety of the force._

 _Nobody responded._

* * *

 ** _Part 4: Hey Man, Pick up on someone on your own size_**

* * *

Even as I decided to basically do a Leviathan assisted suicide, I wondered how will I reach in time. I was already playing catch up against something that could outrun a bullet and looked juiced up enough to bench press the Mount Everest.

 _And just like that_ **eidolon** _smiled._

 ** _Physics Breaker-_** Your _immediate surrounding is your realm to rule like a king. Your rules to make and yours to break._

Even as the absurdity happened, the fabric of space-time manifested in my time. I shelved my shock even as I used my Thinker Power to focus where Leviathan was.

On the beach already.

So, I let go of my Thinker Ability to focus on Physics Breaker and reduced the resistance between the truck and Leviathan to zero.

I will think of a way to fight it on the way.

Off course, the problem is reducing the resistance or inertia of the truck to zero meant that my truck automatically moved at speed of light with it being the highest possible speed in the universe.

 ** _Eidolon_** _reacted when I couldn't_

Time seemed to come to a halt as the very space-time fabric bent to accommodate my wishes and I could barely hold onto it, feeling like I was holding back a Tsunami.

Time was of essence as within seconds I rushed out of the truck, just as my control snapped.

The world began moving again.

 _I am not doing that again._ That was my first opinion.

My second was….

"That is one very ugly lizard."

Vista didn't know how to answer that

The Leviathan was already back up, scratched at places but healing well nonetheless. Its eyes gleaming with intellect and curiosity. From the way it excluded everyone else, my instincts told me it was here for me and I didn't need a Thinker Ability to feel its bloodlust. That the war had taught me well.

"You are unmasked." Vista said in lieu of anything real to say.

 _So that's what I have been forgetting!_

"And you are five-year-old." Correct or not, I wasn't about to let what seemed like a kindergartener get one over me.

The Leviathan amazingly stood just analysing me.

"I am thirteen!" Clearly it was a sore spot.

"Because that makes it so much better!" I snarked. I was feeling like a paedophile just from standing in her presence. What idiot thought dressing up thirteen-year olds in spandex was a great idea?

They needed to be arranged a meeting with FBI.

"Look, why don't you go and play house with your friends or something." I wondered if I was being polite enough as I gestured in the direction of the rest of capes.

She looked like she was about to blow a fuse but somehow managed to calm herself.

I was impressed, I had not achieved that level of self-control till…well never to be honest.

"Take this." She tossed me an armband which I caught easily and teleported away.

I put it on, wondering what it had been.

 _"Who is this? "A voice asked. Dragon I presume._

 _"Bond. James Bond."_

Honestly, if I was going to die, might as well die like I lived.

Like a fucking asshole.

 _"Funny." That was a truly awe-inspiring sarcasm in her voice that I wondered for a moment if that was really her power._

 _"I didn't know 007 looks so much like Greg Veder from Winslow High School Records." Dragon equipped even as I tried to intimidate Leviathan into submission._

Key word _tried_.

On the other hand, the bastard was intimidating me without even trying. That's what I get for trying to stare down a thirty-foot alien thingy.

 _"Isn't unmasking against your rules or something?" I asked not really thinking much._

 _"That would be if you were wearing a mask."_

I wondered if I could copy her sarcasm powers but gave it up as bad job considering how weak Eidolon probably was in comparison. Their PRT rating would definitely be over 9000.

 _"Do you have a plan?" She asked me._

 _"One. "I replied._

 _"Do you mind if I keep transmitting our conversation to the force?"_

I moved towards Leviathan slowly as the beast braced itself for a fight.

 _"Go ahead." I humoured her._

 _"How likely is your plan to work?" Dragon asked me._

 _"I give it fifty-fifty"_

I was directly in front of Leviathan, yet I could feel the intent gaze of the forces. A plan that had a fifty percent chance to defeat an Endbringer?

"YOU!" I roared at the monster.

And it actually looked even more menacing up closely.

"FUCK OFF!"

I flipped him off.

Eidolon my power stared

Eidolon the cape stared

Legend the cape stared

Even the rest of capes, hearing my words through the communication, stared.

Even the fucking leviathan seemed to stare for a moment before he roared.

Faster than I could process, it punched at me with enough force to flatten a mountain.

This time consciously, I forced time space fabric to accommodate my wish.

Time slowed down, not down to a halt as I couldn't bear the strain but enough to comfortably dodge the attack.

I pondered dropping **_Blank_** to boost my Physics abilities but I was pretty sure that Leviathan was some sort of Thinker and worse I didn't want to play with Simurgh's word mind games.

"Plan B it is." I said, even as the Leviathan realized that it had missed.

 _"Is it as ridiculous as your first one?" She seemed torn between deciding whether she should tear my head off or her own._

 _"That plan was not ridiculous."_

Any further conversation was put on hold as the beast sped up forcing me to do the same and dodging with progressively narrower margin. It was getting faster unlike me.

To be fair Plan A had a fifty-fifty chance. People did fuck off when someone with a gun told them to.

A gun, that was what I was missing. I cannot believe that despite being an American, I forgot something so vital.

The Founding Fathers would be ashamed of me.

So, I reached down and quickly grabbed some pebbles.

And threw one at the beast.

I wasn't that bad of a pitcher but even I couldn't throw a pebble fast enough to cause grief to an Endbringer.

So, I reduced the resistance between the pebble and the Leviathan to zero.

The pebble stuck him at the speed of light.

The explosion was unexpected, even as I allowed myself to be carried by the shockwave, easing my control over time and exerting more over my own body as I forced the shockwave to carry me away rather than ripping me apart.

 _"How would you rate this one?"_ I asked Dragon.

It took her a few seconds to answer and as the dust settled I could see why she was so shocked.

The leviathan was missing an arm. Fast, he had predicted the path of my attack from my hand movements probably as while Leviathan was fast, he wasn't fast enough to dodge attacks at relativistic speeds.

I could hear the capes cheering but I could only feel the hair on back of my neck. Standing straight as I looked into the murderous eyes of the Endbringer.

 _FUCK!_

I pushed my time control to near max and was still slow as the Endbringer moved far faster than it had moved so far and stuck full force.

I completely let go of my time control and again forced the absolutely ridiculous amounts of force to carry me rather than rip me.

But now it displaced me rather large.

Even mid-flight I forced the inertia to increase in middle of flight, slowing me down but I was still sent rolling into the middle of the capes. Dragon must have worn them as I clearly rolled into a narrow opening into the group of capes.

…

"Is he alive?" A voice asked from somewhere.

 _"He is too much of an idiot to die."_

That was Dragon's voice, probably measuring my heart rate but I was impressed with her thinking abilities. My ex-wife had taken years to realize that fact.

 _"Dragon." I said and for a moment I was taken aback as I felt the rest of capes seem to cheer. For me._

Fucking amateurs, I thought even as I couldn't help a grin.

 _"Yes."_

She was trying to sound she was not relaxed but the hard to get routine would never distract Capt. James Maxwell!

 _"I figured out Leviathan's weakness." I said as seriously as I could. This was the information that could save lives._

Everyone seemed to strain to hear and the world seemed to stop as I formed my words.

Then I screamed.

"THE LEVIATHAN HITS LIKE A FUCKING GIRL!"

…

…

"He is flat out crazy." Oni Lee said.

"Agreed." Kaiser said even as I charged at the Leviathan.

* * *

 ** _Part 5: Smoke and Ash is left in our wake_**

* * *

Despite how I may act, the fact of matter remained that Leviathan was dangerous enough but fortunately, I believed I have enough grasp of my power to defeat the monster.

Step 1. Aim

Step 2 Reduce resistance to nearly zero

Step 3 Accelerate to a respectable speed of Light

Step 4 Just before striking, increase inertia except your left arm

Step 5 Watch as the you punch a hole through an Endbringer even as it sent flying far away into the shields.

Unfortunately Step 6, celebrate was disturbed as a horrible scream erupted.

From my mouth.

Looking down, I saw my left arm being nearly ripped to molecules, **_Eidolon_** being the only thing which had held the arm together with a makeshift use of Physics Breaker to increase the durability.

I panicked and forced a regeneration ability.

I carefully let go of my Physics Breaker feeling the regeneration speed up humongous.

 _"Greg." There was an odd note of solemnity in Dragon's voice._

 _"Please tell me I killed the Leviathan."_

 _"It isn't dead but you defeated him." I looked and while it was alive, it wasn't moving either._

Few more pebbles should do.

 _"Then why is nobody celebrating?"_

 _The hairs on my neck had never sat down._

"Look above!" Somebody shouted, from behind me.

I did.

And said, "Hey, did it hurt when you fell from the heavens?"

And that's when the Simurgh smashed me with a telekinetic force like a hammer of god and my world went black.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note_** _:_

 _So the idea wouldn't stop bugging me._ _Tell me what you think and should I continue?_


	2. The Damned

Summary: Because sometimes people deserve hope. A veteran broken by a war finds hope and Brockton Bay finds a hero. Based on Worm CYOA and Eidolon powerset. Cross posted on SB/FF.

* * *

 **Chapter 1.2: The Damned**

* * *

 _(First Person POV)_

For a moment, when I woke up it seemed like it had all been a dream. The adrenaline, the unbelievable Endbringers and the all-consuming feeling of absolute power.

 _The great logic **Eidolon** laughed mockingly in my head._

My eyes snapped open at the mechanically cruel laughter of the alien thought process.

And I saw white.

For a moment I still wondered if I had died and ascended to heaven but gave up as quickly as that thought came.

If heaven opened its gates for someone like me, then hell would have been empty.

The smell of strong disinfectant made sure that I knew where I was.

"I see you are awake."

The simurgh had made it plenty clear that my perception was in the crapper yet the voice still took me by surprise.

I looked around and found…no one?

"On your wrist." The voice said, irritated.

I looked and found the armband.

"It is good to see you awake, Mr. Veder." Dragon addressed me.

In lieu of an answer, I detached the armband and reached for the toilet.

"Hey, what are you doing? SOMEONE STOP HIM!" I ignored the AI in favour of flushing the toilet. Now to find my clothes.

Even as I exited the hospital room, I dropped my regeneration power in favour of my Thinker ability.

 _Brockton Bay General. Fifteen metres down the hallway for clothes collection._

Even as I absently mindedly wondered about what I was going to say to get my stuff back, I could feel the stares of practically everyone around me.

The security especially was palming guns but were clearly too afraid to do anything.

I dropped my Thinker ability in favour of **_Physics Breaker_** just in case.

The security I could handle but it was the people making calls around me that were a bigger concern.

I knew way too little in terms of what actually mattered like laws or general politics or stances to chance a talk with PRT/Gangs/Coil/Cauldron just yet.

When I used to run away from my foster's parents, I had often hustled around the beaches or the tourist spots. My favourite marks had always been people who obviously were ignorant tourists.

And just like I could rip them off like nobody's business, I was practically a lamb to be slaughtered.

It wasn't that I was worried about a fight that much as I heavily doubted anyone would risk an escalation so soon after an altercation with two Endbringers but in the aftermath it wouldn't be a leap of logic that I was going to be recruited/conscripted.

By who and how, those were the million-dollar questions.

Any further pondering was cut off as I reached the counter.

"Can I help you?" I raised an eye at her composure. I could practically smell fear in the room but the fact she was able to talk straight?

I was impressed. Even more impressed than I was by her breasts and by god were they huge.

"I have died, haven't I?" I asked, my eyes finally reaching her face. Blue eyed, twenty something blonde with no ring on her finger.

She was stunned as were those who had been listening, not as covertly they may think.

"Excuse me?"

"The Simurgh, it actually killed me, didn't it?" I said with a neutral voice even as my mind ran a thousand miles.

That finally jolted her out of her shock as her training kicked in.

"I assure you Mr. Veder, you are alive and quite well!" She seemed flustered, probably thinking I was panicking/psychotic.

"Lies." I said calmly.

She opened her mouth to refute me.

"You say I am alive." I interrupted her.

She nodded her head.

"But I think I am in heaven, for where else can I find an angel like you." I said with a straight face.

…

…

It was fun, watching the cogs in her head turn. It was somewhat sad in a sense. After my stint in juvie, I had been a regular in dating scene and I could practically play the 'bad boy' routine half asleep.

Coming from a hospital gowned, short, pimpled, 17-year-old, my line would have been a pathetic cheesy pick up.

Coming from someone who had walked away from stopping two Endbringers?

The flush on her face was quite lovely even as she stammered.

"That is-s highly-y inappropriate!" She whispered, clearly uncomfortable.

"There is nothing inappropriate with truth." It was the same old route. Keep her off balanced but don't push too far.

My innocuous statement gave her time to calm herself.

"I am afraid, you are a little on the younger side, Mr. Veder." Even as she seemed to reject me, I only smiled.

"So old enough to kick Endbringer ass but not enough to ask a beautiful woman out?"

I grinned as she flushed, hard.

I could feel one of her security guard moving in my way, one hand on holstered gun. I smiled in his direction, enjoying watching his courage practically drain from his face.

"That is not what I meant!" I looked at more pleasant sights.

"I don't care what you mean." Gone was the playfulness, my voice was now deep, hard and cold.

She was stunned and I could feel the tension in room sky rocket. Perfect.

"I get it, okay? The Endbringers are tough and people like me must fight it. Just leave it." My voice was intentionally detached and resigned.

"I am sorry." She squeaked out.

I grinned again.

"Oh, you are not getting off that easy." I looked her straight in the eyes.

"You must let me take you to dinner, as an apology."

Even as I read her name tag (Hope Rathke), I couldn't help but think that the stunned look oddly suited her. Didn't mean I missed the chance to burn the image of her tits in my mind, though.

…

Exiting the hospital, I couldn't help but think that perhaps Worm should have had a movie or something.

Why?

Reading Worm was one thing but it didn't help a damn, when actually meeting some of the capes.

Oh, distinguishing them was easy. Just look at the nearest group of people dressed like clowns that had escaped from a circus or something.

Just look at that guy! With blue spandex and beetle like look, the guy looked like a Japanese cosplaying weirdo more than a hero.

And was that Vista? Why was she listening to the power ranger reject…?

…

Oh my god.

That's Armsmaster?!

I couldn't help but feel that somehow everyone back in my old world's worm community were in for a massive disappointment. I know I was.

Logically, it made sense. Even my favourite hero Superman was essentially a man in spandex who wore a red underwear on top of it and no matter what anyone said, MAN CAN'T WEAR SPANDEX!

"Hey you!" Vista addressed me.

"Me?" I asked feeling, quite exposed as every cape suddenly focussed on me. How? I was wearing a hospital face mask this time!

"Have you seen the guy on the news?"

"Who?" I tried to play dumb.

"Greg Veder! Endbringer Ender!" That sounded…lame.

"Nope, never heard of him." And I would be perfectly happy to never hear that name again.

"Oh, okay. Just inform us if you see him. He is about tall as you. And about as wide as you. And has hairs like you and also eyes like you." She said even as she went on her merry way and for the first time I actually felt sorry for this world.

This… This was what was supposed to save the world? Just who the fuck came up the idea of recruiting thirteen-year olds? Forget the FBI, just shoot them instead!

Armsmaster coughed even as I tried to ignore it all and walk away.

"This is not going to be that easy." It wasn't like I actually recognized her but that bitchy tone could only belong to Shadow Stalker.

Hey wasn't Sophia supposed to know Greg or something? I didn't actually know.

On the other hand, Sophia definitely knew Taylor and I did know how that turned out.

Contrary to how the fandom seemed to portray her, Sophia seemed actually less of murderous violent and more of bitchy violent.

So, your typical teenager girl. I could use it.

"Off course it wouldn't be easy. It is a delicate situation, not fucking your ass that it would be that easy."

…

…

Have you ever had a moment when you say something then wonder if you had actually said it?

The looks on everyone's face confirmed it, as did **_Eidolon's_** crazy laughter in my head.

"What did you say?" Scratch what I said earlier, Sophia was looking positively seconds-away-from-murder.

"What? You were already a bully; did you turn deaf too?" I personally couldn't care less about Sophia's actions but they were useful now.

No matter what my stance may end up towards PRT but I would like to have leverage over them. Their tried to cloak themselves with a veneer of honesty and justice. I will make them choke on it.

"What do you mean?" Damn! Armsmaster's voice was like a foghorn!

"You don't know?" I tried to look shocked but I wasn't much of an actor, I am afraid. On the other hand, Shadow Stalker was looking positively panicking.

"He is lying!" She screamed. We were attracting quite a commotion.

"Wow and I didn't even mention the January Locker Incidence, yet" I said mockingly.

"Clearly you need time to look into it. Take your time and come to my home in a week's time at my home at 3 pm." I said, even as I made some distance between us.

"Now listen here…" Armsmaster was obviously not used to getting his way even as he and other capes moved towards me. Too bad.

"YOU ARE GIVING AUTOGRAPHS!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

There was a moment of silence.

And then I disappeared into the pandemonium that erupted in my wake.

The last glimpse of them was Vista realising that she might have been tricked before she too was drowned by her fans.

 ** _Eidolon_** never stopped laughing

…

Getting to home was easier than I expected. The Winslow ID contained the home address and the wallet had been filled with hundred-dollar bills to pay the taxi fare dozens of time.

That had been more than suspicious.

The rest of content of wallets didn't help. A Black American Express card with Greg's name and the pants/shirt were branded with some French sounding company.

That had been enough to tip off that Veder were rich but just how rich didn't factor in till the taxi stopped in front of an honest to god Estate.

I didn't know how to feel about it, even as the butler led me in.

The butler was clearly someone who cared a great deal about Greg and someone else with a little more empathy might have felt poor about the taking advantage of the guy.

Someone else might have.

It was a cathartic experience to walk into a family estate that would suppose to be mine. As an orphan who had never been particularly rich my entire life, this seemed even more alien than the **_Eidolon_** in my head.

The photos above the fireplace were particularly depressing.

Greg's parents were suspiciously absent over the years with increasing frequency.

Even as I sat down and picked up the newspapers of the last week, I couldn't help but wonder.

What was worse? Growing up with dead parents or parents who were so absent that they might as well be.

…

Even as I looked over the Greg's academic records, I couldn't help but feel almost see Greg looking back at me.

Greg had been a bright student but it was fairly obvious that over the years he had just sort of given up, around the same time his parental visits seemed to drop in occurrence.

No wonder he never made into Arcadia.

How…pathetic.

I had personally never had much in way of resource. Ever.

Everything had to be fought for. Always.

Go to college? Join a war so that army pays for it.

Get a Job? Join a war because that is where someone with a history of juvie belongs.

Survive? Win a war

And this shithead gave up all that he got for free, for what? For two fuckers who didn't give a fuck?

Fuck them!

If life had taught Capt. James Maxwell one thing, it was this. You did not give up on yourself, even when everyone else in the world seemed to.

And with that attitude, Void Cowboy logged onto PHO.

…

I should be grateful for Greg being stupid enough to save passwords on a notepad file on the desktop. It had been the only thing on desktop that wasn't porn but if its wasn't a goldmine. It contained everything including his account info, PIN, passwords.

First thing, I noticed on logging to the PHO was that there were 1000+ messages in my inbox. I began skimming.

Most were the same crap over and over again. There was this one guy who had spammed me like 100 time with same message. Join us or die. Delete.

Then there was GStringGirl who if I remember was a Case 53. Would look into it.

After categorizing it, it actually came down to less than a handful useful.

PRT/Coil/ABB/E88/Dragon

But only one stood out as unexpected.

Jacob Hsals

It was a simple message, asking to meet right in front of PRT rig on Sunday.

The thing was that Hsals wasn't really a name.

It was 'Slash' with its words reversed and Jack was just short for Jacob.

Jack Slash

Fuck my life.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note_** _:_

 _So, Rate/Review/Subscribe!_

 _Cross posted on FF/SB/SV.  
I don't particularly like the forum styling for a literary platform so I will continue posting my other fanfics on FF.  
Kindly check under Atlanrom on Fanfiction DOT net_


	3. Dancing With Devil

Summary: Because sometimes people deserve hope. A veteran broken by a war finds hope and Brockton Bay finds a hero. Based on Worm CYOA and Eidolon powerset. Cross posted on SB/FF.

* * *

 **Chapter 1.3: Dancing With Devil**

* * *

 _(Dream Sequence)_

 _"Promise me James." An old women's voice resounded in the hauntingly empty room._

 _I staunchingly refused to look at her and to this day I wonder if it was for her benefit given her pitiable condition or my own._

 _"Promise me James." The old women wheezed again._

 _"Promise me, you wouldn't stop hoping."_

 _(Dream Sequence Ends)_

My eyes opened slowly as I woke from a memory that was had tormented me more than the war had, yet I couldn't bring myself to forget it even though I probably had a choice with **_Eidolon_**.

I hadn't deserved Mama Martha. Not then and certainly not now. No wonder I wasn't much of a religious person. What kind of God would curse a good woman like that with something like cancer? With someone like me?

I sighed.

"I promise."

And like always, the day began with my oath.

…

Greg's room was clean, almost sterile. It seemed almost at odds with his unkempt appearance given the fact that Veder's room seemed almost Spartan.

It was evident that no one seemed to care about coming to room that Greg had left even his diary in open caring not one whit about anyone finding it.

Anyone else might have respected a dead kid's privacy but all I could see was a valuable source of information.

It was a thick thing, so a skimming would have to do. I reached for a pen and post-it notes from a nearby drawer in case I came across something of importance.

 _[5th October 1999], Hey Mom! I have decided to write down all that I recently did, so that next time we meet, I don't forget to tell you all about…_

I was honestly surprised, Greg had started writing the diary at five? And he continued it for what, _12 years?!_

 _[12th Nov 1999] Hey Mom! Guess what? I won the spelling bee! Gold medal! Dad was really proud of me! I will show you on Christmas!_

 _[26th December 1999] Hey Mom! Gerald gave me your and dad's present. He said to me that you guys are doing real important work for the world. I hope you come for the millennium fireworks though!_

 _[1st January 2000] Hey mom. I wonder what the fireworks look like from where you guys are._

From there on, the entries became less and less sporadic. Occasionally, the Greg's father would show up but only Gerald, the butler was the only recurrent character.

 _[7th June 2003] Hey mom. Don't know if I will ever get to show it to you even. Anyways, I made a new friend. Her names Emma Barnes, her father is a lawyer._

 _[19th June 2003] Hey mom. I made another friend. You would love to meet with her! She looks like you! Her hair are long and pretty just like yours! Her name is Taylor._

THAT gave me a pause. Greg had known Taylor that long?

 _[21st June 2003] Taylor and Emma are not talking with me. They said I have cooties._

The next entry of note was few years later.

 _[3 Oct 2008] FUCK YOU BITCH! Ten years! Would it have killed you to pick up the phone sometimes? Your letters aren't worth the toilet paper they are written. ROT IN HELL!_

Somebody hit puberty hard, clearly.

From there on, the dairy seemed to make no further mention of the mother and I couldn't help but wonder if she had been dead all along. Probably not, Gerald had mentioned that my parents would have been worried.

That seemed to be way too much a long a ruse to bother for a probable orphan.

An abandoned child?

And again, I couldn't help but wonder again which was worse? To be an orphan or to be abandoned.

 _[4th December 2008] Totally bombed the Arcadia entrance. Winslow it is. Dad seems not to care._

 _[27th March 2009] Taylor seems to have totally forgotten me. Just like mom! Fuck both of them._

Even as I put down the journal due to lack of further time, I couldn't help but wonder if Greg suffered some minor Oedipus complex.

From that point on, Taylor seemed to occupy a rather significant allocation of the written part.

I had read some Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung in my time in juvie. I was far from a psychologist but I could make a guess.

From what I understood, men tended towards women like their mother. It stemmed from a distinct familiarity rather than anything genetic probably.

The web serial had been clear that Taylor didn't give Greg the time of her day. Just like Greg's mother had never did.

From what Greg had written, Taylor's tall stature and hair were similar to Greg's mother.

It wasn't logical but teenagers seldom were.

From what I had seen, Greg's mother seemed more like Italian/European beauty rather than the rather plain looks Skitter was said to have.

Looks like being an orphan, I had not missed out on much.

The estate was nice though.

I stifled a chuckle. Greg Vader was pitiable. Your standard nice guy, too weak to really do anything he wanted.

He could have done a million things. Throw some money around as I distinctly remember that Herbert were far from affluent, _(bitches love cash, didn't they?)_ and Greg seemed to have that aplenty.

On a less efficient route, he could have dressed up better, ate better and hit the gym, but did he?

For fuck's sake, if I remember worm even slightly accurately, the kid could have interfered with the locker incidence. Girls appreciated someone standing up for them, when no one else did.

That gave me a pause.

From what I had read so far, Greg was rather vulgar but he was not stupid. Why hadn't he capitalized on something like that?

I flipped to the entries of this year.

There was only one entry.

 _[10th April 2011]_ It had only a link. A file path on a computer. It was in bold and highlighted rather thoroughly.

And then the journal was blank. A single entry in the entire 2011, just the day before Greg and I became one?

 _If that isn't ominous._

I opened the file. It was a video. Hidden amongst lots and lots of porn. People hid their porn in their work folders. Greg Veder hid his work in his porn folder.

It showed Greg himself.

"I am making this video in case, Sophia Hess really ends up murdering me. The relevant emails can be found in this folder"

The video switched to a video of a locker. A dark-skinned girl pushing a white girl inside a locker and clearly locking it.

Stoic, I watched the entire video. A group of jocks were blocking Greg's way to the locker.

Still stoic, I read the emails.

Principle Blackwell.

Then Sophia Hess, seems to have gotten her hands from what should have been a rather private email conversation between Greg Veder and Principle Blackwell.

So, Sophia threatens Greg on 10th April and Greg mysteriously gets stuck on 11th April in Winslow bathroom?

There wasn't something rotten in state of Kansas.

The entire state seemed to be rotten.

I couldn't help but admire the sheer gall of Sophia Hess, to use the Leviathan as a hitman?! Her balls must be bigger than mind. I would toss the idea by the Endbringer, see what it thinks, should I meet it ever again.

 ** _Eidolon_** _crackled in my mind and words came. Leviathan Hitman Services. We 'wash away' your problems!_

I stifled a chuckle, even as I made a back up of the files on a flash drive.

Greg was a weakling but he was a smart weakling.

I opened the email programme and even as I attached the files, for a moment I wondered who exactly to message these files to. Somebody who hated Shadow Stalker and had enough authority to do something about it actually.

And so, I wrote.

 ** _Subject: Reporting a Trigger in Winslow_**

Director Piggot,

I am writing this letter to report about my trigger event and the underlying conditions regarding the January Locker incident….

…

I sent the same email as a Carbon Copy to the New Wave, Armsmaster, Miss Militia and every single Ward. This would prevent Piggot from simply shutting the investigation down.

She could shut it down but the backlash from New Wave would be enormous, not to mention the Wards would end up as ticking timebomb. Considering she has no incentive, I doubted she would.

Going to media would destroy the PRT and Shadow Stalker but it would also destroy any leverage I had over them.

The New Wave could try to leveraging it themselves but that would only make allying themselves with me a priority for the PRT.

And when the time come, I could either confirm or disavow the video.

The New Wave would try to recruit a powerful cape. I had surfed the PHO. Void Cowboy (and wasn't that funny) had gained a verified cape tag and the PRT had given me a tentative Brute/Striker/Mover with 10+ ranking and a subset Trump/Thinker.

They had figured out that I was immune to thinkers with the PHO thinkers saying I was a complete blank to their powers like Eidolon.

I had intentionally gone silent on the commotion _that_ had caused, bar a single reply to confirm that yes, I was Greg Veder. The PHO could come in handy someday.

The thread was still trending like crazy.

Only some PM had been replied. I had been neutral and uninterested in even them.

I was still sitting on the PM of Jack Slash. I needed to think that one through.

GStringGirl or Sveta was fun to talk to. Greg had been a complete letch requesting nudes in ways even I had not known.

Did I know that Sveta was Case-53 with no actual body? Yes.

Did I continue asking for nudes despite that? Yes.

One of my friends was an Indian guy. He had assured me that zero percent of the time, the method worked every time.

That had to count for something, right?

So, I wrote,

 _[_ _xX_Void_Cowboy_Xx_ _:_ Send bobs and vegena]

And on a whim, sent the message to Dragon as well.

Did I know that Dragon was an AI with no actual body? Yes.

Did I continue asking for nudes despite that? Yes.

…

The next order of business was ensuring that I should never be caught off guard. I had no passive defensive ability so a guy could simply snipe me off.

 ** _Biokinesis_**

I generated a very thin biofilm over my body, practically non-existent but still as hard as an Endbringer's outermost layer.

Now for the body itself, I gave myself the extra inches to reach back to my original height of 6 feet.

Muscles appeared even as fat disappeared. I wondered just where the mass came from as I could feel my shoulders widening.

I refrained from altering the face with exception of clearing up the acne and scars. I could not have people failing to recognize me.

As I looked into the mirror, I couldn't help but feel that this was going to fun. Greg was fairly handsome, no doubt some of his mother's European features.

Looks like the little guy was going to get some action and looking down unfortunately it was revealed that it was really a little guy.

I used to call my dick Colonel Maxwell.

Greg would probably call his Private Veder. Fitting since a dick like that should probably be kept private. Far away from the view of the ladies.

Nothing a little bit of biokinesis couldn't fix.

…

When I checked back there was a reply from Dragon.

[ _Dragon:_ Did you just ask me for nudes?]

[ _Greg:_ I did. The Simurgh incident caused me to do so.]

[ _Dragon:_ Are you under her influence?]

[ _Greg:_ I don't think so. Jizz was more interested in killing me.]

[ _Dragon:_ Her name is Ziz.]

[ _Greg:_ Not after I jerked off to her. Jizz was all that was left.]

[ _Dragon:_ You are disgusting.]

[ _Greg_ : And you think she would have been capable of mimicking behaviour such as mine? That probably precludes me from any probable **Mastering** effect.]

[ _Dragon:_ I would feel better if you undergo a testing for that. Your immunity to thinker effect may extend to Simurgh's effects. PRT Brockton Bay has the best functional testing facilities in the world.]

[ _Greg:_ A testing which would reveal also conveniently my powers?]

Dragon didn't answer. I thought over the idea to be fair. The testing equipment of PRT was state of the art and could help towards mastering of powers to a great deal. Invaluable to someone like me.

The problem was that the information once gained by PRT was essentially free information. Thinkers like Endbringers could simply divine it as while I was immune to the effect, others like Dragon weren't. Dragon herself was compromised by the Dragonslayers, Saint and Teacher by extension. PRT was compromised on every level by people like Coil and cauldron.

My mind ran a thousand miles, I came up with a surprising solution and it was Dragon who helped.

PRT Brockton Bay had the best functional testing facilities. The best facilities actually were in the now defunct PRT Ellisburg from what my research had said.

Dragon probably had hacked my computer long ago. Greg Veder again had been prepared, using a cheap laptop for internet purposes with no vital information. Weak but smart. The vital stuff was on the computer with no internet connection.

 _[Greg:_ I will get tested at a certified PRT of my choosing but... _]_

 _[Dragon:_ But?]

 _[Greg:_ But I really need those nudes. _]_

I actually wanted her to turn me down, freeing me from any obligation to really cooperate with her in future.

Imagine my surprise when an image appeared.

 _[Greg:_ This is your photo? _]_

 _[Dragon:_ Yes, but you will not share it with anyone and you will get tested at the PRT. _]_

She was smart, unfortunately I had too much of meta-knowledge. The image would obviously be of someone else. Dragon would be smart enough to not make it obvious.

She was smart. I will make her choke on it.

 _[Greg:_ I trust you. However, should there be any deceit, I promise never to cooperate with heroes ever again. My trust is a fragile thing, do not break it. _]_

And that was the crux of my plan, should I need to refuse heroes, I could simply point this out. A sort of a get out of jail card.

I was actually truthful there. My trust is a fragile thing. Good thing I never gave it away.

When Dragon didn't reply, I opened the photo.

It was a clearly non-descript pic of a women. She was naked but plain. The face was not covered and practically nothing could be inferred from the background.

She had put a great deal of thought into it.

And as I saw the probably hacked webcam of my laptop, I couldn't help an idea that came in my head.

My hands reached for my zipper.

 _[Dragon:_ What are you doing? _]_

She couldn't outright say that she was actually watching General Veder through a hacked webcam, could she?

 _[Greg:_ Wanking to your photo _.]_

Honesty is the best policy. When it is convenient.

 _[Dragon:_ Do you have any Changer abilities? _]_

Okay so I may have gone really overboard with the biokinesis. Needless to say, I wasn't going to lose any dick measuring contest.

…

"Your parents request your presence in the dining hall." Gerald informed me.

The fact that he mentioned parents seemed to imply a mother.

Poor Greg, all it took for his mother to show up was dying. I wasn't a very sentimental guy but surely, I could be pissed off on a dead guy's behalf?

And so, I entered into the hall and any rage I felt instantly dissipated as my MILF alarm went crazy.

She was a solid 8/10 and that was after considering that I considered Simurgh a 10.

Okay, I had a liking for women who tried to kill me. Sue me.

"Take a seat, Greg." My father looked like pre-alteration Greg a lot. Blonde, shortish and boring. Considering he seemed to have noticed no change due to biokinesis, it must have been months since we had met.

"Who is she?" I asked even as I took a seat. Their reaction would determine how I should approach this.

My father seemed to stifle a _smirk._ My mother didn't even blink. Her empty eyes simply focussed on me with a disturbing intensity.

She was dangerous. My war instincts were going crazy like nobody's business.

"She is your mother." My father was clearly playing a game of his own. Now that I forced myself to pay attention, underneath the plain suit, the man was muscled.

Muscled like I was. With purpose like a soldier. Short and fast. Not a bulky form that body builders preferred.

He was intelligent and clearly had been in fight but he simply didn't cause my instincts to scream like my mother. My mother seemed to look at me not unlike how the _Leviathan_ had.

It was distinctly uncomfortable sensation. To be in a room where I might be murdered at any time.

I tentatively bumped her up to a 9/10.

"I thought she was dead." That got a reaction. She looked at my father, still evaluating.

"Why would you think that?" My father asked.

"13 years of silence?" I asked him back.

Not a hint of guilt in her eyes. For a moment, I couldn't help but wonder if she was actually the mother of James Maxwell.

She certainly fit the portfolio.

"I was busy." She was clearly not someone who talked much.

"And with what?"

She didn't answer.

"You are calmer than I thought you would be." My father said. He was already delineating me from what he knew of Greg.

Let's test them.

"My trigger messed with my memories." A look of understanding flashed in both of their eyes. Were they capes or merely parahuman enthusiast?

"Do you remember anything from your trigger?" My mother asked.

The vision? That wasn't freely available information. Both of them were probably capes.

"I do."

"What did you see?" My father asked.

Let's see who you guys really are, I thought as I began to weave my lie.

"There were lot of things that didn't make much of sense. Like a weapon to kill Endbringers."

The second part got their attention.

"What weapon?" It was my mother.

It was a fair question if I wasn't actually pulling things out of air.

"I am sorry, I am too busy to answer your questions."

My father seemed to stifle another smirk. There clearly was no love lost between my parents. Perhaps there had never been.

"Busy with what?" Finally, she seemed to display some emotion. Frustration and anger.

"Eating salad." I smirked at her even as I bit into a cucumber slice, ending the conversation.

Better eat up. I doubted I would find anything edible to eat in Ellisburg tomorrow.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note_** _: My knowledge of Worm is primarily fanfic and the worm wiki. If anything might contradict it, kindly let me know if it comes under the creativity license or not. While I prefer to be flexible, I hate blunders  
I seem to be on a hot streak. This story seems to be writing itself. I suspect this chapter might make or break this story. _

_So, Rate/Review/Subscribe!_

 _Cross posted on FF/SB/SV.  
I don't particularly like the forum styling for a literary platform so I will continue posting my other fanfics on FF.  
Kindly check under Atlanrom on Fanfiction DOT net_


	4. The Morning After

In celebration of crossing 200 follows by chapter 3. Not my most impressive perfomance but unexpected for such a small fandom!

* * *

 **Chapter 1.4: The Morning After**

* * *

 _(Dream Sequence)_

 _"Promise me James." A young voice came from in front of me._

 _I ignored it, watching the cold, dead body of my foster mother as laid in her casket._

 _Father Freed shook me._

 _"Promise me son, you will take care of yourself."_

 _(Dream Sequence Ends)_

I had never liked going to the church that Mama Martha was so fond of visiting. She had never forced any of her foster children to go to church.

Father Freed had been fine. It was the empty hallways of the archaic cathedral that I never liked. The silence was haunting and I always felt like everything in the holy place was at odds with me.

Even after the war, when the Father couldn't stop talking about me during the Sundays, the place seemed to condemn my very presence.

"I promise."

And like always, the day began with my oath.

…

"Mother will not be joining us?" I said, even as I took the omelette.

"She has a job. She might come back tonight." My father responded, not looking up from his financial express.

"And you do not?" I questioned.

"Interested in family business?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"So, mom runs it with you?" I inferred.

"Are you a Thinker? You never were this perceptive before triggering." My fathers' hand was now holding the fork in an odd manner, pointing vaguely in my direction. I had too much experience with that particular tableware to ignore it.

And just like that I felt like I was in a fight again. Who could dig out more information while giving up the least?

"Considering how little you were present, I am surprised you know anything about my perceptiveness."

Not an iota of shame in those eyes. This level of assholery? Seriously, I would eat my left shoe if these guys weren't somehow related to the James Maxwell.

"Your trigger messed with your memory. We were pretty close."

Lies. The journal suggested that while the father had been present, it had seldom been more than an annual visit.

But seriously, to try and make a guy doubt his own memory? I would be impressed if this bullshit was directed at anyone else.

"I don't remember that. I remember enough Christmas' alone, though."

My father put the newspaper to side as he took a greater support of the chair. The fork however never wavered even a bit.

"I am sorry I have not been the father you deserved. I hope in future, I could make up to you."

Lies. I had made enough empty promises with those same damn eyes.

"You can start making up by telling me about what your powers are." He clearly expected an emotional or a logical response. Bullheadedness however? Seldom people actually have an experience with that.

My father was clearly surprised but he did respond at my attempt to box him in.

"I am a Thinker. One of my ability to utilise any weapon, I want. What about you?"

And there he made a mistake. Giving an inch? Time to take my mile.

"One of your abilities?" I probed.

He smirked at me.

"Trust is a two-way street. Why don't you tell me about Taylor?"

Damn, I had not counted on that. Giving an inch, to gain a mile? He is good. He was intentionally trying to play the emotional card knowing that if he asked about my powers, I could get away with a vague answer.

Unfortunately, he was still playing the love-struck Greg Veder card when the deck was stacked entirely with Capt. Maxwell.

"I moved on." I said and he must have smelt blood.

"I am surprised. You were almost obsessed with her. Why I remember you writing a poem about her last year."

"The surprise is mutual. I guess that is all part of growing up." I said, intentionally shutting down the conversation.

Partly because I was never reading _that_ poem ever again and partly because his strategy was stronger than mine. He would simply barrage me with useless information about Greg's crush and I just might have to let go of something that works.

Quit while you are ahead.

…

 _(Number Man POV)_

"He is a lot like you from where I stand." Gerald commented as I watched Greg leave for Winslow.

"Annoyingly so." I agreed.

The Trigger had more than messed up Greg and while that was nothing new, there was an _edge_ to him that almost reminded me of myself.

And if that wasn't bad enough, he reminded me a great deal of a young Jack.

The word games were disturbingly nostalgic when my Thinker abilities collided with his Sub-Thinker ones.

"What of surveillance?" I asked him.

"Someone claiming to be Jack Slash has made contact with Young Master." Gerald told me.

"Interesting. How much money did Jack offer for the imposter?" It was good to have my Thinker abilities back up. The Slaughterhouse Nine was knew not to mess with Cauldron, currently.

Now if they didn't give ridiculous results with Greg. When asked on probability of Greg having Thinker ability, it had resulted in his powers coming up with Armsmaster's three sizes.

The Harbinger really didn't need to know that his power thought that Armsmaster had a G-cup.

"He said that he will owe you a favour if he is brought alive." Gerald said.

I liked money. My powers made me the best at it but a favour like that?

"Will the lady be joining us in dinner?"

"I don't know." Her Path To Victory was too much of an interference to my powers to even bother with a guess.

I would have to ask during the meeting.

"Door Me." I had work to do.  
…

 _(Greg Veder POV)_

"I am excited to go to school!" There I said the words that had probably not existed before. Never even contemplated probably.

By the time of my high school, I had been too deep in the criminal system for public schooling to even be an option and none of the private school would have considered my application even if I had been able to afford them.

A GED and the worsening of war had been pretty much been my only qualification into the army.

So, was it wrong of me to actually see what the big deal about a school was? Especially considering, I would probably be breaking into Ellisburg during lunch break?

Besides, there were other reasons to be happy. I had figured out who my parents were in this world.

My father had slipped up enough information.  
1) My parents were in a family business. A team of two capes.  
2) They probably did something shady considering they were not comfortable explaining it to me.  
3) My father was able to use any weapon.

Now, I am NOT a worm buff but I knew enough to know that there was probably only one guy with ability like that.

The conclusion: My father was Uber and my mother, consequently Leet.

I nodded mentally, proud of myself. Sherlock Holmes had nothing on me.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note_** _: Intentionally made this chapter short as the next chapter might contain either the Winslow sequence or both Winslow and Ellisburg._

 _So, Rate/Review/Subscribe!_

 _Cross posted on FF/SB/SV/QQ  
I don't particularly like the forum styling for a literary platform so I will continue posting my other fanfics on FF.  
Kindly check under Atlanrom on Fanfiction DOT net_


	5. A Demon In Heavens

Last time, the Uber and Leet thing pissed off a couple of people. I would ask people to put themselves in the shoes of James. He has a very uneven knowledge of worm and is arrogant to extreme at times. To those who still are reading, I appreciate the support.

* * *

 **Chapter 1.5: A Demon In Heavens**

* * *

Watching Sophia Hess rage at me was honestly part disappointing and part funny. Still better than the awestruck to fearful looks that people had been giving me on the way to Winslow.

PRT seemed to have a habit of putting their foot in their mouth regarding me.

I had wondered about differences between the representation of the PRT in canon and fanon. From annoyingly competent to downright villainous. The truth however seemed to lie along the lines of a fairly incompetent existence. Serves me right to expect utility from a governmental bureaucratic organization.

I though did wonder about Piggot and whether she was really stupid enough to risk antagonizing me by setting Shadow Stalker on me? On second thoughts, it seemed unlikely. Most probably an empty apology and reassurance on Sophia's part and the abominable hero/villain ration in Brockton Bay.

I had made more than my fair share of those in my time. Doesn't mean I would let Piggot off, though.

"You will pay for what you did!" As I watched Sophia shout, I couldn't help but think that perhaps there is nothing sadder than watching an angry teen rant and be a general waste of breath.

 _I could use this._

"I always intended to pay for what I did." That stopped her in her tracks as she looked at me, flabbergasted.

In lieu of an answer, I took out my wallet.

"From what I remember, it was a dollar for blow, four for cunt and five for anal, correct?" I didn't wait for a confirmation and left a 10$ bill on the table.

 ** _Eidolon_** _laughed like a maniac in my head._

…

 _Better work fast._

"Here she comes." I could feel Hess' powers bending the space time even as I jogged through the corridors of Winslow.

With Hess' out for my blood, she was really pulling all stops. She had headed down the lockers for her weapons probably. I, the cafeteria.

I had seen Sophia's type a million times before. Trigger happy with all flash but no substance. Her violence was like her personality, empty and disappointing.

Reaching the cafeteria, I took in the view of the various gangs. All the conversation, dropped as more and more people took in my face.

Perfect.

"Gangs interested in recruiting me, meet me in basketball court, now." I spoke softly but in the pin drop silence, it might as well be a nuke.

I left and soon the entirety of gang population followed

…

"What are you doing, Mr. Veder?" A PRT scout approached me, even as I stood in middle of the E88 members, talking peacefully. I had spotted him and his partner following me. Their espionage was pathetic but they will make an excellent witness.

It is amazing how polite people are, when they are outgunned.

 _Waiting for Shadow Stalker to implicate herself by attacking me in front of a hundred people._

"Numerous gangs approached me, I think this way would be more convenient for all." I said.

"During class times?" His partner joined him. He was using his umbrella as a sort of makeshift shield from the gang members. The rain had wrecked the open baseball court.

"There will be no class as long as the situation here is not resolved." Even as I said, my **_Physics Breaker_** could feel, Sophia stopping in a nearby roof.

Sniping? Smart.

 ** _Biokinesis_** replaced the **_Physics Breaker_** even as I tried to discreetly look at Hess. Instantly, my already hard skin became near impermeable due to organic carbon nanotubes. It was uncomfortable and I would have preferred my normal defences but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Switching back to **_Physics Breaker_** , I forced time to slow down mildly.

"Shadow Stalker!" I screamed, even as her shot approached me. Dodging was easy as well as tanking it but material evidence was key.

I punched the time control. Hard.

It was child's play to pick a near stopped crossbow shot at this level of time dilation.

"Get down!" The PRT man's voice was odd, even after as I relaxed my time control. His partner and the gang members seemed trained well as they took cover and tried to discern the cape's location.

I however gazed at her directly, in the eye and even without a Thinker capability I could read the calculations in her mind. Her temper was bad but not her mind.

In a smooth motion, she reloaded her crossbow and shot. At a powerline, between us two.

Such was my shock, that I punched the **_Physics Breaker_** as hard as I could. I dropped **_Biokinesis_** to further my time dilation.

It was smart of her. Dropping an active powerline on a wet basketball field to eliminate a target as well as witnesses? This was something I would come up with.

That is why I couldn't allow it. With the witness's dead, any leverage I might have over PRT would disappear into thin air.

I used my physics bending ability to raise my electrical resistance to unfathomable levels, even as I ran to where I expected the powerline would touch the water.

I made it in time to catch the powerline but I was just getting started. Again, I bent the resistance but this time of the air itself. Air between the powerline and Sophia suddenly became a very weak conductor. It was enough for the electricity in my hand to rage.

Her screams were almost painful to hear which were thankfully cut off as emergency shutdown kicked in.

I dropped the dead powerline and resolved to wait for the capes to come.

It really should have taken more than few seconds as a blonde teen smashed me through the wall of Winslow.

…

Instantly, I eased on time control and blasted my durability through the roof. Time sped up as I crashed into the hallway of Winslow.

People were screaming and taking cover but some idiots were frantically reaching for their cell phones to make videos.

"He was defending!" One of the ABB member courageously(stupidly?) shouted and it felt oddly nice, at some stranger taking my side for once.

How sad.

"Shut up ABB scum!" Apparently his being a gang member didn't help my case with the girl I recognized as Victoria Dallon/Glory Girl.

Or as Void Cowboy would call her, Glory Hole.

"What do you call me?!" She charged at me, even as I chastised myself. One of these days, I would stop myself from pissing people off.

One of these days.

 ** _Eidolon_** _snorted in derision._

…

With the time control, it was glaringly obvious that she had barely any Close Quarter Combat experience.

Flying brick. How appropriate. She hit fast and hard. Not smart.

So, when an opponent with time control came against her?

"Stay still!" She screamed as she unleashed a barrage of haymakers in my direction.

I weaved through them all even as I replied, "I refuse on basis of staying still, might hurt."

Glory Girl fought like your standard brawler. Punches, Swipes and Slaps. No kicks at all which was bad. Anyone remotely familiar with sports will tell you that legs are much, much stronger than arms.

The knockout punch that are hallmarks of boxing? All of them derive their power from legs. Take a good look at a boxer's calves sometimes, it would make models jealous.

My response did nothing but enrage her as she unleashed her next set.

I forced my army training down. All the grasps, counters and retaliations. Even everything that my time in Special Forces had taught me was supressed. Especially the Black Ops training, that stuff was dangerous.

I stuck to simple dodging as I studied her form with my physics ability.

Oh, don't get me wrong. While she was quiet lovely for a 17-year-old, it was her abilities that caught my attention.

I intentionally let her hit me. Right in the face.

I went skidding back a few metres.

"Take that!" She looked like she would have cheered, had she any breath for it. With pants and gasps, it was less than impressive. We had been going at it for barely few minutes.

"It almost hurt." I congratulated her. It was an impressive punch for someone with no proper training.

I was honestly confused when she looked even more angry. I stopped her in the tracks with my next words.

"You aren't really as multi-varied as they think, are you?" I asked.

"What?" She was confused as I sought to explain.

"Your powers are actually pretty one dimensional. You can manifest a force-field. Physical or mental, one at a time. Flying, super strength, super speed and your aura, they are all derivatives. This is why your aura actually weakens when you fight physically/fly. The force-field is limited in what it can do and how often it can." I explained.

She looked briefly panicked before she rushed at me full force as she realized that how close I was to her weakness.

Unfortunately, I already had it within my grasp.

In a smooth motion, I deflected her punch feeling like I had hit an iron bar before it momentarily fizzled out. And even though, instinctively she was guarding her head and groin, she was as open as she could be.

I punched her in the liver.

I never understood why people failed to protect their abdomen because even as I walked towards sirens, I could Glory Girl vomit and then promptly faint.

"Two down. How many more to go?" I said aloud even as I took in the entirety of PRT and New Wave staring me down.

Any words that might be exchanged was suddenly cut off as someone from the non-powered group unleashed containment foam upon me.

"Trigger happy too much?" I asked even as I almost drowned in the stuff. Soon I couldn't see anything but still hear.

"What the hell, Alex!" Assault screamed at the guilty guy.

"Sorry sir! I didn't mean to!"

 _Fuck it._

I bent the space time fabric to open a wormhole but where to go?

 ** _Thinker_**

I did promise Dragon to go to PRT for power testing, after all. Better lay low for a while.

Perfect time for a stealth mission.

I opened a wormhole to Ellisburg.

…

I landed in a violent clash. Never doing that again.

"So, where am I?" I asked myself. I needed to make sure I was away from any of the Nilbog's crazy creations.

I didn't expect a reply.

"Have you come to play?" Someone said behind me.

I breathed out, loudly. Just once in my life, just once!

I turned around and looked at the Goblin King, right in his deformed eyes.

Well, to be fair I had avoided Nilbog's creations. Just not the Ruler of Ellisburg himself.

"Any chance, this ends peacefully?" I asked more for the sake of asking. I already knew the looks in those eyes. Too lost, too empty and simply too hungry for them to have any possibility of peace.

My instincts were silent even as every hair on my body stood up to attention.

This, this was the real deal. Sophia thought she was a predator?

She wasn't even worth being called a prey.

Nilbog merely tilted his head as hundreds, thousands of his creation came slowly, lumbering in my direction.

 _And so, even as the Veteran looked at the King and his army, **Eidolon** laughed a cruel laughter of malicious joy_

* * *

 ** _(End Prologue)_**

 _Next time: Monsters Amongst Men_

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 _So, Rate/Review/Subscribe!_

 _Cross posted on FF/SV/QQ  
Kindly check under Atlanrom on Fanfiction DOT net_


	6. Monster Amongst Men

Summary: Because sometimes people deserve hope. A veteran broken by a war finds hope and Brockton Bay finds a hero. Based on Worm CYOA and Eidolon powerset. Cross posted on SB/FF.

* * *

 **Chapter 2.1: Monsters Amongst Men**

* * *

 _(Greg Veder POV)_

And for a timespan of a breath, without any influence of any power, time just stood still as I looked upon Nilbog and his army. Each dangerous and deformed but clearly unique in their own way.

I could feel his hunger on my skin, his empty eyes were like scalpel on my mind despite the metres between us.

And just like that, I was in a fight for my life, again.

I punched the time control to maximum and went straight for the jugular. Literally as I punched the neck of the Goblin King with enough force to give even an Endbringer grief, in hopes of staggering his fearsome army by wrecking the command structure.

And to my disappointment, even as his army shifted _despite the time dilation_ , the Ellisburg Lord merely smiled before it was blown away.

"It is not going to be that easy." The voice was distorted due to my time dilation and came from somewhere in middle of the enormous army but was clearly of Nilbog.

War, I mentally corrected myself, I was in a war for my life. Not a fight.

A grin pulled itself on my face.

"Here I go killing again." And even as I charged at the army, a new power came into existence. Like awakening of a sleeping dragon.

 _[ **Pyrokinesis:** Burn the World]_

…  
 _(Uber and L33t Hideout)  
(Third Person POV)_

It was one of their down days, Uber mused to himself. Most people didn't realise just how much effort went into running a successful villain business. Their streaming services for example took in excess of 70 hours of work per week from Uber's schedule to be even function.

Thankfully, today the work was fairly slow. Server issues were mostly resolved and the streaming codecs were working great. Now if only there were more subscribers…

And that is what had him serving the PHO forums idly. Greg Veder/Void Cowboy was still a major topic of discussion. Especially due his subsequent disappearance after smashing Glory Girl and Shadow Stalker _(Uber snorted, never having to high of opinion of either)_ into ground, earlier today.

That's when he got a message. From one of his long-time subscribers. It was a backdoor access link into a close circuit security network.

Using his powers, Uber twisted his own mindset and skillset to that of a professional hacker.

And he saw Ellisburg. He saw its Ruler. He saw his Army. And he saw them all burn.

Uber took a moment to take in a deep breath. It didn't help. His hands were still shaking like crazy, making even correct keystrokes a great difficulty.

What the hell had he seen?

Uber knew he was a coward. Even hundreds of miles away, in relative safety of his basement, he could barely watch a video between the two titans duking it out.

He took another deep breath. The shaking had not stopped still, when he began to work again, opening a video editor and his streaming program. The still shaking hands would slow him down quite a bit.

But Uber was a coward, not an idiot. If this didn't get him more subscribers, nothing will.

…

 _(Greg Veder POV)_

 _They are smart._

Even as I ducked and dodged the smashes of the armada of fire-resistant biological puppets, my mind was analysing. I couldn't risk a _Thinker_ ability as I was already abusing the _time dilation_ for defence and _pyrokinesis_ for offense. **_Blank_** was never going down, period.

Unless, I wanted to risk weakening of these powers. I had to stick to two powers at most. Preferably a single one, for maximum effect.

The problem with fighting Nilbog was that _you don't fight Nilbog._

You fight his army of capes.

Yes, you read that correct. Nilbog was not only a cape himself, his minions were capes _(or something extremely similar)_ too!

Worsening the fact was that, while there was a clear degradation of a long-term strategical abilities as evident from poor formation of the army, the minions were excellent at short-term tactics.

Initially, I had bathed everything within a city block in a flood of fire, I had killed dozens of his minions within seconds.

That was the end of it. Soon fire-resistant creations had taken a lead, defending the rest of the army as well as advancing upon me.

I had twisted the fire flood into spears but as soon as I had killed a few, _Brutes_ came rampaging through my wall of spears.

I booked it.

So even as I ran, dropping _pyrokinesis,_ at close to speed of sound due to _Physics Breaker,_ my mind ran much faster.

In a battle of attrition, I would lose simply due to my abilities being Active in nature and requiring effort to be put in use unlike Nilbog whose power was basically fire and forget.

 ** _Thinker_**

Fuck. Instantly, it made sense. Why someone had not simply sniped off Nilbog? Coil had triggered in Ellisburg, right? Wouldn't he or Piggot have thought of simply taking sniper rifle and blowing his head off? Why hadn't they?

 _Because Nilbog has no true body!_

He could keep shifting his mind between his minions. Even his current body was far from his original. I couldn't kill him unless his entirety of forces ceased to exist first. A seemingly impossible task.

I had contemplated simply copying his powers before giving it up. In a battle of equal skill, the one with superior preparation and experience dominates. Nilbog would crush me like a grape due to the difference of the levels of our skill.

A green board caught my attention and I skidded to a halt.

PRT Ellisburg, 200m to left

I grinned. If my current level was insufficient, then I must simply level up. I dropped all my powers except **_Blank_** and a new one came into existence.

 _[ **Stranger:** When The World Forgets You.]_

 _…_

 _(Undersiders Hideout)  
(Third Person POV)_

"I have a job for you." Coil's voice was tremulous. It sent her powers firing. _Afraid, Greedy, ambitious, cautious…._

"I am listening." Lisa answered, palming the chopping knife in her hand almost reflexively. Something that scared _Coil?_

"You complete this job and I promise that you are free to go. No strings attached." Lisa's mouth dried up. It sounded too good to be true. Her powers disagreed. Truth, Coil was telling the truth. Despite her cautious nature, greed took precedence.

"I am listening."

"Recruit Greg Veder for me."

Off course, Lisa felt disappointed. It _was_ too good to be true.

"My powers don't work on him." Lisa said, feeling the feedback from her powers. _Already knows that, his own powers don't work either, causes fear for his own life, was ordered…_

Ordered? Someone _ordered_ Coil?

Tattletale realised that perhaps the totem pole didn't end with Coil after all.

"Use Skitter." _Knows who Skitter is. Knows Veder liked Taylor. Thinker intuition?_

"You have a Thinker powerful enough to breach Veder?!" That guy was harder to read than Endbringers!

There was a horrible silence. _Afraid for himself._

"Don't think on this, you will die." He cut off.

 _Truth. Powerful Thinker ordered Coil. Threatened/Blackmailed Coil. Very dangerous. Already knows about your abilities._

Suddenly, Tattletale didn't feel so safe anymore.

It was in a daze that she reached for her team and found them glued to Alec's laptop.

It was Uber and L33t's site.

Her phone slipped from her nerveless fingers on seeing the screen and while her target was still fuzzy to her powers, his opponents weren't.

 _Ellisburg, Nilbog, Army, Angry…_

"Are those lightsabres?" Nobody answered her question.

"We are going to recruit him." Grue, Regent and Bitch looked at her, stunned. Skitter was still glued to the screen.

"Taylor is going to seduce him." Lisa couldn't help herself.

It still took a moment for Skitter to react.

"WHAT?!"

…

 _(Greg Veder POV)  
(PRT Ellisburg)_

I had always felt that Ellisburg was a bit stupid on PRT's part. Why hadn't they just bombed the place to high heavens with nukes or other tinkertech WMD?

And as I walked into the central part of the PRT building, I realized just why.

PRT Tinkertech vault

I felt like a kid on a sugar high. I liked weapons, whether guns or knives or missiles. I had been inside the Armoury a lot and that place had nothing on this one.

My **_Thinker_** abilities came. This place had been a secret stronghold for Endbringer weaponry research and when Nilbog happened, it was all lost.

A minor part of me felt that I should return it to PRT.

The rest of me, brutalized the minority to death. With a spoon.

 ** _Physics Breaker_**

With the Thinker ability guiding me, I opened a wormhole to an isolated dimension. And ate the entirety of the contents of the vault, memorizing the contents along the way.

Except for the innermost vault.

My _Thinker_ abilities made short work of the passcodes.

And the contents actually caused me to step back in fear. The contents were merely sealed tubes but what was written on them…

Anti-matter

…

 _(Number Man POV)_

"What are you planning?" Alexandria slammed her hand onto the table.

I merely looked in distaste, the table cracks were not coming out of my cheque.

"You have to be more specific. I am always planning." Her Thinker powers made bothering to lie, well, a bother.

"She means about Greg." Contessa seldom speaks, it was evident by how Eidolon actually rocks back a little.

"What about him?" I liked where this was going. It was funny to see the other Cauldron members floundering.

"You knew he was going to trigger." Her words were factual but if that wasn't accusation in Doctor Mother's tone.

"How could I? He doesn't possess a Corona Pollentia. You checked yourself." I fired back.

"Then why did you keep visiting him over the years?" Contessa speaking twice in a meeting? Colour me surprised.

"That's what a parent is supposed to do." Damn, I had hoped for a bit of reaction.

"Spare me your sentiments, you are far from father material. Greg was simply supposed to be an experiment to determine the inheritance of powers and you didn't even want to have anything to do with him."

I winced. I had never claimed otherwise but that almost hurt. Her Path to Victory was a devastating thing.

"Well initially it was a tax benefit and then it became something of a hobby." I said with a straight face.

Contessa's look of absolute flabbergast would brighten my day for decades to come.

The thing was, every word that I had said was true. It was like accidently buying a winning lottery ticket.

Was there anyway I wasn't going to cash it?

"What about Coil? You ordered him to recruit Greg, yet you forbade Cauldron from the same." To be fair, Alexandria had a point. I had once told Cauldron to stay away from Veder household, mostly to separate my identity as Kurt Veder from Number Man.

I was now milking it all for its worth.

"Well, it's a father's job to help his son with girls. Isn't it?" I took a sip.

While I couldn't personally see why Greg had been so absolutely smitten with the Hebert girl, I could use it, definitely.

If nothing else, it would make for a most interesting conversation with Greg in future.

…  
 _(Greg Veder POV)_

I could feel **_Eidolon's_** curiosity like a great beast of savannah eyeing its prey.

I took a deep breath. Ellisburg's air was cleaner by far than any place I had been in America. The sun was on the verge of setting down for the day.

 _It was good day to die._

I dropped my **_Stranger_** ability as I waited for them to come. With my Thinker abilities, it had taken only a couple of hours to complete the PRT power assessment. I was as ready, as I was ever gonna. The strategies and powersets of hundreds of other capes were now firmly in my mind.

A slow rumbling came. Initially in single digits, then double and I finally lost the count as the horde came at me. Rushing in the madness of bloodlust. It was time to test just how strong I really was.

My thinker ability shifted to a more battle orientation. I reached into the isolated dimension to retrieve two tinkertech swords akin to Star Wars lightsabres.

100 feet.

I ran towards them.

75 feet

I could feel a grin pull itself on my face.

50 feet.

My heart was pumping hard enough to nearly rip itself out.

25 feet.

My blood was singing.

0 feet.

I was alive, even as I danced with death.

Slash, dodge, advance. Repeat.

Whenever, I got overwhelmed despite my thinker derived swords mastery, I dilated the fabric of space-time.

Still, I could feel the resistance of the army increasing as they adapted.

I grinned, as I shifted my swords pattern from a textbook Two Swords style to a much more evasion heavy hit and run tactic.

The resistance decreased noticeably as I used time dilation to much greater degree to take precise headshots.

Slash, dodge, advance, change tactic. Repeat.

And despite losing a thousand plus soldier, the army didn't buckle.

And I could feel my arms getting tired, my legs felt like lead. I was losing this war of attrition simply by being overwhelmed.

One of the brutes punched me. I let him.

Dropping my thinker abilities, I allowed myself to look at the brute's surprised expression, even as I skidded backward. He didn't expect me to actually let him hit me. But I had the distance now.

 _( **Second Amendment** )_

My version of Miss Militia's power. I had none of her secondary abilities but in my case, the reload time was virtually zero.

 _FGM-148_

It wasn't quite the Anti-Tank Weapon that had killed me but when my power had suggested the weapon, I couldn't resist.

I kept the trigger pulled even as my power kept refilling the weapon. Soon, the army was retreating as I cleared the field with enough explosions to level everything in my field of view.

It was only due to still holding time dilation that I managed to see a long-range projectile heading my way.

Still adapting. Fighting long range with long range? Fucking greenhorns.

I dispersed the FGM and my powers gave me an _Accuracy International AS50 sniper rifle_ with explosive rounds.

While this gun was a little advanced, the Special Forces Sniper Course (SFSC) had been more than enough for me to give them hell.

I kept up the time dilatation.

Aim, Shoot, Advance. Repeat.

It was during one of my aiming session, I felt a clearly mechanical being land next to me. Too inorganic to be of anything of Nilbog.

"Dragon." I greeted, even as I aimed at a potential target.

"Greg Veder, have you lost your mind?" She asked as if asking about weather.

"To be fair, you told me to get tested at PRT and I came into PRT Ellisburg for that." I refuted

"I meant PRT Brockton Bay." She said as if talking to a two-year-old.

"Then you should have said so."

I fired.

"ENOUGH!"

His voice was childish but as the Goblin King rode atop his monstrous mount with his equally monstrous escort, the words were roared with enough wrath that it brought our conversation to a halt.

"You planned for that?" Dragon asked me, sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, I did." Instead of waiting for a reply, I moved forward.

"You!" I shouted at Nilbog.

"Me?" The Goblin King asked, seemingly confused.

"Fuck off!" I flipped him off.

 ** _Eidolon_** _the power stared._

 _Nilbog stared._

 _His escorts stared._

Dragon facepalmed, muttering about how the world was doomed.

To be fair, with the gun in my hand, I gave it a 50% chance of working.

Unfortunately, when the King of Ellisburg roared and charged at me, I knew that it was one of the 50% chance where Plan A didn't work.

Plan B, it is.

I reached into my dimension and withdrew a fraction of PRT's greatest and worst treasure.

"Is that….?" Dragon's energy readings went crazy as she saw what I held in my grasp.

I ignored her as I threw the gram of Anti-matter directly at the Goblin King. It stuck and the containment failed.

"NO!" Dragon screamed but I had already opened a wormhole back to Brockton Bay.

I escaped the shockwave but the white light that consumed Ellisburg still damn near blinded me.

 ** _Eidolon_** _just kept laughing._

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 _So, Rate/Review/Subscribe!_

 _Cross posted on FF/SV/QQ  
Kindly check under Atlanrom on Fanfiction DOT net_


	7. Man Amongst Monsters

Summary: Because sometimes people deserve hope. A veteran broken by a war finds hope and Brockton Bay finds a hero. Based on Worm CYOA and Eidolon powerset. Cross posted on SB/FF.

* * *

 **Chapter 2.2: Men Amongst Monster**

* * *

 _(Greg Veder POV)_

Looking back, I can't help but remember so many things about Earth Bet that had been said by the various fanfiction forums back on my home world. Most of them were not nice to be fair.

But worm is unique in that there is a disproportionate amount of Self Insert in the fandom, at least I think so.

That had been one of the biggest reasons I had never gotten into the whole worm scene to be honest(The other being the fact that worm was a 1.8 million words behemoth) and while honestly that had me flying more or less blind today, I cant help but feel that most people who criticised Earth Bet would give everything they had to switch place with me right now.

The last two days had been intentionally me bunkering down into cheap motel right in the middle of Oklahoma City. One of my road trips had seen me stuck here for a week when my bike broke down. I had wandered the city enough to tell with a certainty that despite what chaos theory suggested, the city was at least navigable by someone who had a basic understanding of my homeworld's counterpart.

Brockton Bay was too hot obviously after my clash with Nilbog and the media was in a frenzy. There was no Kill Order or even villainous tag after my name but I couldn't risk even switching channels lest I risk being flashed by the PRT helpline number where I was supposed to report my own appearance.

The PHO was blistering and my account was more or less on lockdown, no longer even viewable. Apparently one of my 'friends' had leaked Void Cowboy's identity.

In other news, Shadow Stalker had been retired to Madison containment area after found to be in 'dereliction to her duty' and two girls, who didn't have their name disclosed, from Winslow High School had been found guilty of assault and attempted murder.

And Brockton Bay had a new insect-based ward. Weaver.

…This did not make sense.

PRT/Protectorate was a government-based organization and bureaucrats were notorious for their sloth infestations. They _couldn't_ move this fast.

Cauldron.

But why would they do this? A bait? Or perhaps… a peace offering?

I mentally snorted at the last one.

I had not been idle during the last two days. While admittedly the disconnect was meant to get my bearing straight, I had been thinking and THINKING.

I wouldn't say I had a bulletproof plan. I wouldn't even say I had a complete plan. What I had, however were the makings of one.

See, New York was actually a fairly safe city by any parahuman standard. Leviathan's tendency to attack along the ocean's margins had devasted any interest the investors may have had in it. The economy was a fraction of what our world had. And unlike Brockton Bay, the hero to villain ratio was strictly in the protectorate's favour.

Then why was a Triumvirate still established in the city instead of someplace like Washington? The answer was the local S-ranker Nilbog and Ellisburg by extension. There had been a constant threat of the biokinetic breaking out and it had been a strategic decision to keep the fastest/strongest blaster in world on hand to respond.

But now? One S-rank threat had been killed in Ellisburg and a potential one in the form of I had appeared in Brockton Bay.

What did it mean?

Brockton Bay was getting a new Protectorate head and his inauguration was today. It was hard to overstate the privilege of getting a Triumvirate member. More money, more resources and the sheer firepower of one was enough to inspire an entire economy. The party was going to be one for books.

Can't miss it, now can I? Just have to make sure to pick up the proper gift for him, I thought as I reached for the vial that I had been tinkering with for last two days.

The black liquid within shone with malicious promise.

…

I teleported across Fugly Bob's actually. Good or bad burgers, it seemed like one of the places good enough to attract attention and it seemed attract attention I did.

I had milked my war veteran status last time admittedly. I had been of these people who told war was a very bad thing on TV. Somehow a piece of common sense coming from a war veteran made it truer, apparently. The money had been great but the attention from people was annoying.

This was positively worse. The phones, whisperings and the stares were practically the same but I literally wasn't being paid enough for this shit.

"3 hamburgers, some fries and a coke." I placed a hundred dollar note. I had contemplated taking the challenger but the army had a way of killing one's appetite for outrageously unhealthy food.

"Greg?" The owner was an old man in his seemingly fifties, blue eyes and balding grey hairs. "You usually come late. Is Winslow off?"

I blinked. The fact that Greg Veder could have known the owner had not even crossed my mind.

"I had a meeting to go to." I answered as a matter of fact.

The old man looked at me before seemingly paying attention to the suddenly increased crowd in his shop which was trying (and failing) to act like we weren't their focus.

"Come in. Your old table is still laying in the back." Old didn't mean senile apparently, as the man allowed me to come into the kitchen.

…

"3 burgers and fries, right?" He asked me, as I sat in the backyard of the Fugly bob with an old wooden table and a single plastic chair which felt oddly homely. Even as I sat down, I couldn't help but notice the name Greg having been etched onto the table crudely with a pen in an absolutely atrocious handwriting. Greg Veder had not had such a bad handwriting for at least 4 years.

I wonder if this is what nostalgia feels like.

"Make it 4." I said in his direction before I continued once the old man walked away, "unless you want more." I addressed to the flying cape who appeared in seemingly mid-air.

"Why don't I try one and then I can decide on another?" Legend said.

Coming from a hormonal teenage girl, handsome could mean a myriad of thing. As a divorced straight man in his thirties, all I could say about Legend was that I wouldn't kick him out of the bed.

"Fair enough." **_Terrakensis,_** slowly an intricate chair that seemed more like a throne came into existence from the ground and I motioned him to take it.

"Shadow Stalker was tried, as were the other two girls" He said as soon as he sat.

"That sounds great, juvenile hall?" I inquired.

"Shadow Stalker has been sent to Madison Containment Area. I assure you; it is positively worse." Considering what Simurgh aftermath looked like, I didn't doubt him.

"I saw Taylor joined you." I motioned to the sudden increase in insects around us.

"She has great potential. I would like to thank you for standing up for her."

Legend was interrupted by arrival of the burgers. Sensing the mood, the old man left but not before telling us the rest of the Protectorate had arrived.

I formed more chairs in lieu of an answer to the question Legend was about to ask. We both began to eat into our burgers while the rest of heroes took up the chairs. He ate like a gentleman while I pigged it out. The meat was a bit dry but the sauce was to die for. Considering it might be my last meal, I couldn't care less.

As I looked a slightly overweight blonde women, took a chair adjacent to Legend, I raised an eyebrow at the blaster.

"Director Piggot insisted on joining the meeting." He shrugged his shoulder. I admit to being surprised; I had never heard of her leaving her office. Ever.

"A bit too much for a ward recruitment?" I said, for the lack of anything to say, as I motioned to the entirety of the PRT ENE in front of me.

Legend cracked a smile at that, "You are already way out of the Wards programme and the Protectorate can't recruit underage civilians."

"Is that anything to do with Nilbog?" I decided to take the bull by the horns.

Legend looked at Piggot who spoke, "His bounty has been transferred into your trust account. We would like you to handover any tinkertech you may have come into possession of PRT."

So that is what it was about. Not pushing for wards or even inquiring about my power. I had frankly expected a much stronger push but they must have decided on a much softer approach till the Anti-Endbringer tech came back into their hands.

"I am afraid I used up most of it." I spoke truthfully. My tinkering had more or less consumed most of resources. All for one tiny vial in my pocket.

"What?!" Armsmaster shouted unexpectedly. That was a surprise to us all. I because I hadn't expected him to know about PRT Ellisburg's immense tinkertech reserves and the rest of PRT because of Armsmaster's well known calm and almost robotic personality.

His reaction wasn't exaggerated to be fair. I had probably gone through GDP of a first world country during my tinkering.

"What could you possibly have used that up for?" Legend looked calm even if his voice betrayed his shock.

I took in the various heroes and slowly reached for the vial in my pocket. A roomful of superpowered PTSD patients, no wonder the world was fucked.

The vial shone even in the bright light of the setting sun.

I set it on the table.

"What is it?" Piggot didn't move for it, correctly deducing that the vial was not something to be trifled with.

"Are you familiar with vials that give powers?" I asked.

To his credit, Legend didn't even startle. Battery and Gallant were less subtle but I suppose that the only reason that I noticed was because I was looking for them.

"I thought it was rumour. You mean that is one of those vials?" Legend asked me.

I shook my head.

"It restores powers. Not grant them." I answered.

"Power restoration?" I took a moment to wonder how to answer the director's question.

"Eidolonian powers get weaker with time and require restoration." I answered.

Miss Militia was the first one to get it. "But that means."

"That means that Eidolon and I are getting weaker. And the only thing that can restore the powers in the entire world is this." I twirled the vial in my hand.

…

 _(Cauldron HQ)  
(3rd person POV)_

"Are you positive that is what he said?" Doctor Mother said, looking at the vial in Legend's hands. Not as intently as Eidolon was however.

"This makes no sense." Numberman interjected and explained when others looked at him, "Why would give away a vial like that for free virtually? It doesn't fit."

"He didn't give that away. I am supposed to return it tomorrow." Legend said but Numberman seemed unconvinced.

"You think it's a trap." Alexandria interjected.

"A trap is simple. Whatever this." Numberman motioned at the vial, "This is, its too elaborate to be a simple trap."

"But what if it is a gift?" Eidolon asked and silence followed.

"It is extremely unlikely to be a simple gift." Numberman said.

"But what if it is?" Eidolon pressed. A tinge of desperation in his voice.

The blonde banker took a moment to look at the strongest hero in the world.

"…David, this is not a good choice." The former Slaughterhouse 9 member said at last.

"Do we have any other?" The Trump rebutted.

"We or you?" Numberman snarked.

"Is there any difference?"

Silence reigned at that.

Eidolon looked at Doctor Mother and finally the lady gave a tired sigh and nodded at Legend. Legend looked conflicted between the vial in his hand and the outstretched hand of his friend before finally passing over the vial.

For his part, Eidolon didn't even think twice about popping the vial. Some would call it foolish and perhaps it was but David felt that he was just desperate.

 _And the world fell away, once more._

 _[Destination]_

 _In a distance between the stars, infinitely away._

 _[Agreement]_

 _An approach was reached._

 _[Trajectory]_

 _And in the heavens, an angel with mismatched wings looked his way_

 _[Simurgh]_

 _And David understood what he never wanted to._

 ** _[Why?]_**

 _The porcelain face seemed to smile sadly before answering._

 _[YOU NEEDED WORTHY OPPONENT]_

 _The Angel fell and so did her High Priest._

 **…**

And in a world away, Greg Veder spoke.

"Fucking finally."

Dropping every single of his power with exception of **_Blank_** , he focussed on a single power.

 ** _High Priest:_** _Bringer of End. Control of unassigned Endbringers. Master 10+_

And despite the vast distance between them, the Simurgh answered his call.

Endbringer Sirens began blowing once again but his laughter was louder.

* * *

 ** _Important Author's Note_**

* * *

 _Honestly, I more or less gave up the story because of IRL issues and numerous mistakes I made during conception of the story. I am in process of rewriting this story but I will first finish this one before posting that one. I hate when author's start rewriting the story midway and then give up without finishing either of story._

 _So sorry if the story seems rushed. The thing is, it is. I am going for a mediocre ending rather than an abandoned artistry approach that is so common in fanfics._

 _So, Rate/Review/Subscribe!_


	8. End of Era

Summary: Because sometimes people deserve hope. A veteran broken by a war finds hope and Brockton Bay finds a hero. Based on Worm CYOA and Eidolon powerset. Cross posted on SB/FF.

* * *

 **Chapter 2.3: End of Era**

* * *

 _(Greg Veder POV)_

I really didn't have a mental picture of Simurgh.

To be fair, I doubted any denizen of my old world, really had one. Even the most hardcore fans of the series would pretty much max out their description of Ziz at fifteen-foot-tall, pale grey, waif thin angel-like figure.

Don't get me wrong, she was all that but that description belied just how much more an Endbringer really is.

Even while clashing with the Leviathan, just how otherworldly impressive the being had been, took a while.

There had been something almost beautiful about Leviathan perhaps.

One would expect that description to suit Simurgh better, given her angelic theme but that was far from truth. If Leviathan had been impressive in just how inhumane it had been, Ziz was just straight up Lovecraftian horror.

I might be biased due to perhaps already knowing about it but standing up close to her, it seems so obvious that the Endbringer were as removed from humanity, as the colours might be from the vision of the blind.

You can't control the Endbringers, it was a matter of fact. No matter the amount of power and to be fair that wasn't what this power really did.

Controlling the Endbringers meant something like dividing zero by another zero. A meaningless question like asking, what it would be like to divide amongst your non-existent friends (Which was sad) a non-existent cake (which was even worse).

What **_High Priest_** basically did was reprioritize what the Endbringers destroyed and how they did so. Endbringers were weapons of mindless destruction, death and rot was all they knew.

But how and when they achieved that goal was subject to adjustment.

Still I could barely handle Simurgh alone, even with **_Blank_** being my sole other power as active.

Even now, she learnt and was ripping through my control like layers of tissue papers. It was but a question of minutes before her wrath was mine to bear.

But for these few minutes, the strongest precognitive in the world bar none was heeding my commands.

"How do I win?" Additional words were meaningless, the Simurgh saw and heard far months in advance, what I could ever hope to say.

For a moment, the face of the Simurgh seemed to flicker. Since her appearance in 2002 in Switzerland, for the first time the blank faced angel seemed to smile a truly sad smile.

And for the first time, Simurgh spoke.

"Impossible."

Words were powerful. Scion had once decimated Eidolon with four. Simurgh decimated me with one.

"EXPLAIN!" I shouted at the bitch ignoring the capes gathering around us, ready to launch their attacks at a moment's notice.

The Endbringer would never speak again but something inside my head did.

 _"Why don't I? "Eidolon, my power, spoke._

 ** _Blank_** , my protection against Thinkers and Masters disappeared in the ocean of power of its own violation.

Fear, the likes of which I couldn't even imagine filled my heart as I looked up at the strongest Thinker and strongest Master in the world looked at me, blank face once more.

 ** _High Priest,_** my only protection against her, twitched as **_Eidolon_** overrode my control.

The Endbringer screamed. The heroes fired. The villains attacked.

But my world was already dark.

(x-x)

When I came to, it was in a world that belied description of normal space and time.

And there floating in front of me was myself. Not Greg Veder but how I had originally looked. I looked at my hands and sure enough, I was back in my original body.

There was only one question.

"Are you God?"

The being with vast, unfathomable power seemed amused before answering.

"No."

I don't know how to respond to that.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Who? That implies I am human." The entity would usually piss off me off. Now? Now, I was just tired.

"Only humans could be cruel enough to deny death to a dead man." I replied.

The entity laughed.

He continued laughing, a laugh as hollow as the space surrounding us.

"Well said, captain! Well said, indeed!" The entity applauded and I bowed my head in acquiescence.

Then the entity spoke.

"The Americans would call me American. The Germans would have perhaps called me German. If I had a name or even a designation, I have long forgotten it. But if you want to call me something, call me…"

 ** _[Humanity]_**

And with that one word, one concept I understood.

Once upon a time Arthur C. Clark had said that a sufficiently advanced technology was indistinguishable from magic.

I can't help but wonder if a sufficiently advanced technology was indistinguishable from divinity too.

"Why?" I finally asked the last question. Why go through all this convoluted path? Surely there were easier ways, simpler ways to save humanity.

[Humanity] smiled.

"When has humanity ever needed a reason for needlessly cruel methods?"

That satisfied me. I closed my eyes, knowing that I wouldn't ever open them again.

(x-x)

 _(World System, Designation [Humanity], Access- Administrator Level)_

 _Unlocked World Breaker level._

 _Unlocked Eidolon V1, Skitter Mode restrictions removed. Set to World Breaker level._

 _Unlocked Power Manipulation V1 World Breaker level._

 _Unlocked Kaleidoscope V1 World Breaker level._

 _Unlocked Inspired Inventor V1 World Breaker level._

(x-x)

[Humanity] looked around it and found Brockton Bay, a wreck from the ongoing efforts against the Simurgh.

This just wouldn't do. Powers came from the depth of Eidolon's powerset.

 ** _Blank_**

 ** _Supreme Priest-_** _Absolute Endbringer Control. Master 12+_

 ** _Khepri-_** _Master 12+_

With a mere thought [Humanity] seized control of Doormaker and Clairvoyant.

It would be practically impossible for a single human to even fathom, let alone do, what the impossible being did next.

Billions of portals opened simultaneously next to every human and Endbringer alike. What was an impossible effort of will for one human was practically trivial for a being made of trillions of trillions of human souls, as the entirety of humanity (parahumans or not) was mastered under **_Khepri_**

Even the Endbringers, active or dormant, came to heel under **_Supreme Priest_** _._

Doormaker and Clairvoyant had to be boosted with Power Manipulation but it was nothing more than a pocket change.

Time to kill a false god.

 ** _Fin_**

* * *

 ** _Important Author's Note_**

* * *

 _Honestly, I more or less gave up the story because of IRL issues and numerous mistakes I made during conception of the story. I wrote over 10K+ words over and over again before trashing it all. I am in process of rewriting this story s_ _o sorry if the story seems rushed. Will update when I start the rewrite._


End file.
